Author Archives: james

Geeking out

Posted on January 15, 2020 by james

I’ve put quite a bit of time into oacapture and oalive this year and hopefully they’re the better for it, with a new release coming soon. Github demonstrates the depth of my efforts:

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DIY Stevenson screen #3

Posted on January 15, 2020 by james

My Stevenson screen is now finally in place, mounted on the outside wall of the observatory warm room, allowing cabling to be routed into the warm room for collecting the data. Initially the instruments will be connected to the warm … Continue reading →

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A bit of a catch-up

Posted on January 15, 2020 by james

It’s been a while since I last found time to post anything thanks to life being quite busy, even over Christmas so I thought it was time for a bit of a catch-up. Swimming hasn’t really been going that well. … Continue reading →

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Sloe, sloe, prick, scratch, sloe (ouch!)

Posted on November 10, 2019 by james

I spent an hour or so this afternoon exploring the hedgerows and collecting sloes. It’s a job I’ve put off for a couple of weeks waiting for the rain to stop and the days to turn colder. It seems the … Continue reading →

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In a “cloud sandwich”

Posted on November 10, 2019 by james

I left the workshop whilst working on my Stevenson screen and looked across the valley to the east through the sycamore trees. Something wasn’t quite right, but it took me a little while to work out what. It was the … Continue reading →

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DIY Stevenson screen #2

Posted on November 10, 2019 by james

I had to wait a fair while for the paint to dry (and it isn’t really properly hardened off yet), but that wasn’t a major issue as I was also waiting for some stainless screws to arrive. Yesterday I finally … Continue reading →

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1-wire weather sensors on Linux

Posted on November 10, 2019 by james

Some time ago I had a 1-wire weather station and a number of other 1-wire weather-related sensors run from a Linux server. It wasn’t hugely reliable because the cable run was really a bit too long, but with a bit … Continue reading →

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Apples, apples, everywhere…

Posted on November 10, 2019 by james

And most of them will be drunk. I took advantage of the first sunny day for what seems like months a couple of weekends back to get out in the orchard and do something that’s been on my list of … Continue reading →

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A DIY Stevenson screen

Posted on November 10, 2019 by james

Now the observatory is up and running my mind has turned to wiring up my weather station kit again and getting it all working as I can now connect it all to the PC in the observatory and have some … Continue reading →

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Adding the TSRED279 reducer/flattener to the Photoline 72

Posted on November 9, 2019 by james

I’m very happy with my little Photoline 72, but with a camera sensor of any size it becomes obvious that the field is far from flat. So much so in fact that it’s sometimes difficult to get Deep Sky Stacker … Continue reading →

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